Walking Dead 1. Author's Note

**A/N:**

**Hi!**

**This is a The Walking Dead fanfiction. It was formerly posted on Wattpad, (some of you probably know me from there) but now I am reposting it here for various reasons.**

**Anyway, about the story:**

**This will eventually be a Daryl/OC story, and maybe with some Merle/OC, too.**

**When I say eventually, I mean ****_eventually. _****Both Daryl and the OC he will be with has been damaged by there past and have learned not to trust, and they don't really know how to love somebody. That's why their relationship is so slow-growing.**

**I hate rushed romances, though; so that's another reason that their relationship will take a while to develop. **

**But, if you're not here for the romance, this story also has its fair share of gore in it, too. So maybe you'll like that as well :)**

**That being said, enjoy :)**

**DISCLAIMER: SADLY, I DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD. THE ONLY THING THAT BELONGS TO ME IN THE STORY IS THE SOMEWHAT PLOT-CHANGE, AND THE VARIOUS OCs.**


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One:**

Daryl trudged through the underbrush with his brother by his side. They were sent yet again out into the forest to hunt for the small group of survivors they'd joined; these people had no sense of survival, in Daryl's opinion. They only had stuff to eat because of the two Dixon's hunting skills, and Merle had been the one to point out that they could boil the water at the quarry to drink. Those people were useless, simple as that.

"You know I'm goin' on that run for supplies with that Chinese kid, right?" Merle inquired suddenly as he glanced at his brother. "Yeah, I know." Daryl replied. The thing that he didn't know was _why_ Merle was going, and why Glenn had let him tag along. Both siblings knew very well that not everyone was fond of Merle at all, and the same went for Daryl. They saw the looks that were thrown their direction, they weren't blind like some people apparently thought. But, personally, Daryl hated being seen that way, even though he tried not to show it. He had an idea of the amount of crap Merle would give him for caring about the judgement of others.

And, as much as Daryl wouldn't like to admit it, he was a little worried about his brother going off into town. Anything could happen these days, after all.

Picking up on this even through Daryl's disguise of emotion, Merle warned, "Don't look at me like that."

"I ain't lookin' at you like nothin'," Daryl rebuked immediately, surprised his brother had seen through him. Merle scoffed and rolled his eyes, "We been separated more than once, boy, and we both was fine then. I'll be fine now, and you can manage on your own, surely."

"I wasn't worried about that." Daryl muttered the lie and glanced at the ground.

"Yeah, okay." Merle ridiculed.

"Jus' shut up, 'fore you scare everythin' off." Daryl snapped suddenly, hoping to get his brother to stop nagging him. Merle shot a glance at his sibling crossly, but managed to stay quiet for the moments that followed.

After those moments slid by, Merle was about to speak again when suddenly both Dixon's stopped in their tracks. They had both heard the sound of an animal running about nearby. Daryl looked at his brother, wondering if he was going to go for the kill, but Merle had done the same, expecting Daryl to go for it, himself. The younger Dixon accepted the gesture and raised his crossbow, waiting for the rodent to show itself.

It only took a few more seconds for the squirrel to scurry out from the brush and hop to the nearest tree in an attempt to get away. Daryl quickly aimed his bow and pulled the trigger to the weapon, causing the arrow to fly forward with a swift-sounding _whoosh_ and into the squirrel; the impact immediately killing it.

Daryl moved forward to retrieve the arrow and the deceased animal while Merle watched him, becoming slightly impatient. "That'll probably be enough," Daryl's older brother mused as Daryl situated the squirrel next to the other deceased ones they had collected, "For now, anyway. C'mon, let's head back." Daryl glanced from what he was doing and nodded slightly, allowing Merle to lead the way back to camp.

Once the two made it back, everyone looked up at their presence, as normal. Daryl kept his head lowered, hating the attention, and tried to ignore the stares he felt burning holes through him. Soon, though, everyone looked away, but Daryl still felt as if he was being centered in attention. Merle had easily brushed it off; he'd gotten used to it by now.

"C'mon." His older brother urged in a low voice to the youngest Dixon, sensing his discomfort.

It was well-known that Merle Dixon wasn't a nice person, and he certainly didn't stick his neck out for people, to say the least. But he always made sure to do one thing, and that is to take care of his younger brother. Granted, he wouldn't usually be this considerate about him, but he didn't like these people anymore than Daryl did. He couldn't wait to rob this camp blind and get out of there; get back to what he was used to.

When they got to their tent, however, the slightly nervous Glenn hastily interrupted, "Uh, Merle, we're about to head out..."

Glenn didn't like that _he_ had to be the one to notify Merle of their departure; quite frankly the older man intimidated him. Daryl glanced up at the kid's sudden presence before looking back down again, and Merle turned to look at Glenn, himself. "Alright, Short Round, I'm comin'." He drawled, and Glenn swallowed back a complaint at his newly given nickname before retreating back to the vehicle he was leaving in.

"Sorry, looks like you'll have to finish these up by yourself," Merle continued, quite unapologetically, as he tossed the squirrels back at Daryl. Daryl cast the dead animals a scornful look; it seemed he always was the one stuck with Merle's unfinished jobs. Merle was about to leave before he paused and bent down by his stuff to get something he'd been saving in his stash: drugs. This was one of his only opportunities to put the dope to his use because now Daryl couldn't stand over his shoulder and badger him into not taking it.

Daryl saw him do this and frowned, "Merle - " He started, only to be stopped by the interjection from Merle himself, "Don't even try to tell me to put it back." He warned, making Daryl fall into a hesitant silence. Merle walked out of the tent, muttering a hasty, "Be back soon." To his baby brother before he was gone.

Now Daryl's concern had deepened; Merle was taking drugs, and if he knew his brother, which he most certainly did, it would cause him to do something stupid and get everyone in trouble.

As Daryl muttered to himself while preparing to skin the squirrels, he didn't have any idea about how right he was.


	3. Chapter Two

**CHAPTER TWO:**

Daryl had finished doing the dirty job of skinning the squirrels and was gathering his stuff to head back to camp. Still annoyed at Merle for leaving the job all to him, Daryl put his knife away, slung his crossbow over his shoulder, and grabbed what was left of the squirrels. _Now all that's left to do is for these people to cook them. _

It was always the same thing over and over here: Merle and Daryl found food, prepared it, then left it to them to cook and eat. Then the cycle started all over again.

As Daryl stepped out of the forest in which he'd gone and came back to camp, he realized with dread that he would have to do all the work tomorrow by himself. He shrugged it off, scolding himself, _Quit being a baby, you'll be fine. _

Suddenly, as he got back to where the camp was, Daryl realized with slight surprise that everyone wasn't at their normal places: most everyone was clumped around each other, talking. He took in the scene before him warily and went a few more paces forward, getting close enough to here one of them say, "...You just found her?"

A small part of him wanted to know what was going on, who they'd found, but the rest of him just wanted to get along with what he was doing. Only taking a few more seconds to ponder what he would do, he decided just to ignore them. He wasn't even really considered a legitimate member of this group, anyway, why would they tell him what was going on?

He quickly scanned around where they usually had the camp fire, finding with relief that Amy was over there and not with everyone else; he would give the animals to her to cook. Daryl wasn't really in the mood to go around and have to chase someone down to do it. He quickly made his way over to her, and when she saw that he was coming to her, she was slightly surprised, until she saw the squirrels. He just wanted her to get them ready to cook.

"Here," He mumbled hastily, handing over the string of squirrels. She grimaced - she'd always hated having this job - but she gave a slight nod of thanks anyway. Daryl immediately turned away from her in response, glad that he got that done fairly quick, and subconsciously noticed that the bundle of people that had been talking had broken up.

As he was about to head back to him and Merle's tent, he was abruptly and to his surprise interrupted by Shane, the group's unofficial leader. The black-haired man had stepped in front of Daryl to get him to stop, "Hey, Daryl? Can you go fetch a bottle of water for me?" He inquired. Daryl eyed him, taken off-guard. He would usually be annoyed and say something along the lines of, _I ain't your water boy, go fetch it yourself. _But, it was rare that Shane approached him like this, if at all, and he could see the desperation in the eyes of the man in front of him.

Suppressing a sigh, Daryl lowered his gaze from Shane's slightly intimidating, authoritative glare before responding in a somewhat irritated tone, "Uh, yeah."

Shane nodded, both surprised and glad that he had gotten Daryl to accept. "Thanks," He told him. In response Daryl just gave a slight nod and began to walk off on his quest for water. He took a few moments to glance back at Shane to see that he had already moved on to talk to Lori. _Why can't he just go get his own water? It's not like he actually has anything important to do._

After wandering the camp a moment more in hope to find bottled water so he wouldn't have to go all the way to the quarry to get some, Daryl finally found what he was looking for. It was only fairly fresh, but it would have to do. After picking it up, he scanned around the camp to find Shane. Just as he was becoming impatient, he spotted the man in question who was walking toward the RV. Daryl began to head towards him, but Shane slipped into the vehicle before he could reach him. Letting out an agitated huff, Daryl went after him.

Once he had walked over and reached the doorway to the large vehicle, he heard voices and hesitated a moment before deciding that all he wanted to do was get back to his tent and away from these people, and the only way he could do that was to get this task done and over with. Sighing, he stepped into the RV to see Shane and Lori by the small bed the RV had. Taking a few more steps forward, he saw a girl siting up on the bed that he didn't know.

She had dark blonde hair, it was almost brown; but that's all he could tell about her that was significant at the moment he'd had to glance her over; also she looked like she was just beginning to wake up. _This must be the girl that they had found._

Her eyes darted to the ground in the spot that a compound bow was laying - Daryl assumed it was hers - before she quickly reached for it. Just as her fingers brushed the weapon, Shane put his foot on it and scooted it back, away from her reach. Her eyes scanned the foot that was on her bow before she looked up to see who it belonged to. She locked eyes with Shane before threatening quietly, "You'd best let me have that."

However, Shane managed to keep his composure as he said back cooly, "No, I really don't think I should."

From her place nearby, Lori gave Shane a slightly disapproving look to which Shane chose to ignore. From the place that Daryl was awkwardly looking on, he cleared his throat slightly in hope to catch Shane's attention. Luckily, it worked, but it also made Lori and the new girl turn to him, as well. Beginning to piece things together, Daryl raised the water bottle slightly and nodded to the new girl as he inquired, "For her?"

Shane nodded, and Daryl stepped forward a bit to hand the water over to her. The girl looked Daryl over quickly, hesitant to accept, but she knew that she really did need the water; her thirst reminded her of that.

During the exchange, the two locked eyes; the light blue of the girl's eyes meeting the darker blue of Daryl's. The connection only lasted a few seconds, however, because once the bottle of water had been given to her, Daryl dropped his gaze immediately and started out the door.


End file.

Walking Dead, Horror, Romance